Headlines on both sides of the Atlantic trumpet daily hysteria about Trump’s “trade war.” When President Trump imposed tariffs on European steel, here in Berlin the mainstream media reacted as if it were a declaration of all-out war. Trump’s open break with the other G7 leaders and talk of new tariffs on automobiles fueled the fire.European business, political and media elites are perplexed about how the U.S. president can demolish the “rules-based global trade system” that the United States and Europe jointly built over the last 50 years – a system that served them so well. | By Jürgen Maier
TTIP has been sacrificed to save the Comprehensive Economic & Trade Agreement (CETA) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) and Brexit won’t spare us from them
An international trade deal being negotiated in secret is a “turbo-charged privatisation pact” that poses a threat to democratic sovereignty and “the very concept of public services”, campaigners have warned.
The European Union and the USA have been negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) behind closed doors since 2013. Negotiators kept insisting that their secret talks would work in the best interest of the public and the environment. But since Greenpeace leaked the TTIP draft negotiating documents it became clearer than ever, that this trade agreement could become one of the most dangerous weapons in the hands of the fossil fuel industry in its effort to kill Climate Action for the 21st century.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been signed but not ratified and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations are in train. The former faces challenges in securing legislative ratification in the US and some other member states, buts its progress faces widespread, and growing, resistance in key European countries, with opposition coming from both within national bodies politic and wider civil societies. The success of both projects hangs in the balance. This short paper looks at the cases for and against both projects and analyses the political dynamics at play.
US and EU officials reaffirmed last week that they still aim to clinch a bilateral trade and investment pact this year, while acknowledging that much work remains in areas such as market access following the latest round of negotiations in Brussels, Belgium.
European Commission chairman Jean-Claude Juncker caused outrage when he suggested that national parliaments of the EU member states were to be bypassed in the bloc’s approval process for the European-Canadian CETA trade treaty. In hindsight, Juncker’s shrewd move shows what a cunning politician he is: He singlehandedly forced leading politicians in the member states to publicly defend the treaty.
Experiencing a period of economic stagnation, the European Union (EU) has started to look for different ways to enhance its economic growth rates. One solution is represented by the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). However, this solution is also one of the most debated issues within the circles of economists due to economic and social costs at stake. Among these costs, the issues of corruption and corporatism should not be neglected. Although they do not make the TTIP-related headlines, these issues are very important because they could minimize and even overcome the positive effects of trade liberalisation.
America’s web of Buy American requirements is undermining TTIP discussions, blocking EU companies from trillions of dollars worth of procurement deals.
New European Union proposals in trade talks with the U.S. are aimed at simplifying technical regulations in the cosmetics, medical devices, cars, chemicals and textiles sectors, the European Commission said.
Last week, there was a bit of good news on the trade front: on July 8, tobacco giant Philip Morris lost its ridiculous case against Uruguay’s cigarette labeling laws. ISDS empowers companies to sue governments in private tribunals over measures that undermine their expected profits. It has become a lightning rod for controversy in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).